My Sparkling
by A'isha Ishtar
Summary: "There there, young one. I've got you." She was so small. So tiny. He held her close to him, against his chest, and her eyes closed. His optics softened as he looked at her. "You know, young one, I... I have always wanted a sparkling..."
1. Chapter 1

**Hope you guys enjoy! (Sorry, not much time, short author note!)**

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><p>He had been chasing after the fucking Decepticon for some time now, firing blindly and hoping to get a hit in. And he'd just now gotten close enough to see that the slag had a human child in one hand.<p>

They were both on the edge of the cliff, staring each other down. Blue optics met red, and meanwhile he managed to keep an eye on the child. She looked terrified out of her mind to the point where she couldn't speak. She was holding onto the Decepticon's hand, but probably only out of fear that she'd fall. He could just barely hear her whimpering, silently begging for the thing to let her go.

"I'll tell you this one time, so you listen up, 'cause I don't like repeating myself," he snarled, pointing a cannon at the enemy. "You put the sparkling down now, and I might consider letting you go to the Pit with your face recognizable."

The thing had the audacity to growl back at him, smirking. "Oh? Is this what you want?" He shot his hand up in the air, dangling the girl from it. She let out a yell, scrambling to keep her grip. "Hmm? This... _thing_ right here? Can't see why anyone would want it."

He cocked the cannon. "Put her down!"

"Oh, gladly." In one move, the Decepticon had his hand, and by extension the child, over the edge of the cliff. It was clear that he was fully prepared to drop her right to her death. "Now, I think I've got your attention, Autobot slime. Either you surrender and go quietly back to your pitiful base, tail between your legs like the dog you are, or I... let go of the fleshling. Which shall it be?"

He scowled. "Where... Where did you get her in the first place?"

"Oh, don't worry. No one will miss it, I can assure you of that." He loosened his grip, and the girl screamed as she thought she was about to fall, but the freak grabbed her at the last second. "Whoops. Terrible grip, you know... too much oil."

"Hmmph." He disengaged his cannon, backing up. "Fine, you've got me then. I'll leave, just as soon as you put the sparkling down."

"I'd rather you leave first, Autoloser."

"I'll say it nicely once more. I will leave if you just put. The sparkling. _Down_."

"Very well." He swung around, and brought the girl to his eye level. "You, you lucked out, you grimy little fleshling. I'm sure you'll make a nice pet for the next one who finds you." And then, he lowered his hand, and dropped her to the ground. As she curled up defensively, the other Cybertronian looked up. "Well? Head back to your disgusting comrades."

His cannons kicked back on in an instant, both of them this time. "Not a chance, you Deceptifucker!"

Without taking barely two steps, he fired several blasts at the bastard. He was nearly blown in half, and fell to the ground. The one with the better disposition (though not by much) walked over and kicked him over the edge, making sure the job was done. He scoffed.

"Next time you freaks wanna harm the humans, do the entire Cybertronian race a favor and go shove a bomb up your aft."

Then he turned back to the child. Where had that aft-hole gotten her from? Had that bastard taken her away from a family? It didn't look like it. Who would keep their sparkling in such condition? Her baggy shirt and shorts barely fit her, and her hair was not taken care of, sticking up in all directions. Plus she was covered in dirt and dried blood.

Anger burned in him. What kind of pathetic people left their sparkling to fend for itself? In this condition? He had to admit, as much as they all loved the humans, he would be simply _honored_ to wipe out all the unworthy ones, like whoever had abandoned this little one.

He knelt beside her, and just looked at her for a minute. For all the filth covering her, she was beautiful. A natural treasure in the world, as sparklings should be. She was so scared, the poor thing, shuddering and sobbing.

He felt his spark slow down, and for the first time in quite a while something warmed it that wasn't anger. She was so little, so fragile, she needed someone to take care of her - someone who wouldn't turn their back and abandon her.

"Oh now, look at you," he said softly, reaching down to cup his hand as a shield around her. "All beaten up, how did you survive on your own?"

She whined a little, and to his surprise she rolled over toward his fingers. She didn't touch him, but she was close. Her body shook as she continued to wail almost silently.

"There there, young one," he murmured as he carefully scooped up her body in his large hand. She felt so cold against the metal that was his skin. "I've got you."

She was so small. So tiny. She was even smaller than a fully grown human, and here he'd been thinking they couldn't _possibly_ get any smaller. How old was this one, anyway? Much younger than Sam or Mikaela. He sensed a similar type of childish innocence in her that was in Bumblebee. He was young, but in terms of their years he was just a little older than Sam. And this girl definitely wasn't older than that - a lot younger, she was. Then again, Bumblebee was just immature, stubborn, and didn't want to grow up.

She looked so _tired_, like all she wanted to do was curl up and go to sleep, but it was clear to see she was terrified. She didn't know who to trust. He held her close to him, against his chest, in hopes to calm her, and she closed her eyes. He was a bit frightened to hold her, he thought he might drop her or hold her too tightly.

His optics softened a little as he looked down at her. She was so small; she needed protection. She could sense now, obviously, that he wasn't going to harm her. And so affectionate too, her hand and head against his armor. Normally such weakness was disgusting to him, but something was different about this one. Perhaps it was because she was so young, so naïve and mostly blind to prejudices, to the real world.

"You know, young one," he murmured, even knowing she probably wasn't listening, "I... I have always wanted a sparkling..."

She shifted in his arm, and her cheek was pressed against him now. She blinked a few times, up at him, smiled just an inch, then closed her eyes again. She was tired.

He glanced up at the sky, let out a breath, and began walking back toward the base. "Maybe, little one..."

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><p>"Ironhide, we can't keep her here. You know that."<p>

The other bot scowled. "Well, we can't just leave her out there to fend for herself, can we? You're always saying how we should care about humans more and take care of them. Now that I'm finally doing it, you don't want me to?"

Optimus Prime sighed, shaking his head. "Ironhide, you _know_ that isn't what I'm talking about. She's got to have a family somewhere, and they're probably looking for her. Imagine you had a sparkling, then one day he wandered off and you didn't know where he was. Wouldn't you be worried too?"

He scoffed. "Hell! No way. I would have raised him well enough that he could fight his way out of any situation."

"And what if it was a femme? Hmm? Would you be worried then?"

"She'd still be a good warrior if she had _my_ Energon in her veins," Ironhide grumbled, crossing his arms. "I wouldn't be terrified, no."

"But you'd still go looking for them, wouldn't you?"

"... I guess you have a point..." He looked in the window at the medical bay. Ratchet and Jolt were fussing around the little girl, who had fallen sound asleep on the way here. "But that Decepticon scum... he said no one would miss her."

"That is what he _wanted_ you to think, Ironhide. They play games with anyone's mind that they can."

"You saw her, Prime. You saw how horrible she looked." He swept a hand at the window, gesturing to the sleeping human inside on the bed. "Do you need to be reminded? I suggest you look again. She's filthy, she's covered in wounds, her clothes barely fit her, and I definitely don't think that hairstyle is 'in', as the humans say."

Optimus heavily carried out respiration a few times, and turned his eyes away from the window that exposed her. "Ironhide, even if she has no family, we can't keep her here. She's a child. She can't stay with us. You know that if she were to stay-"

"Optimus, will you look at her!" Ironhide grabbed his friend by the shoulder and dragged him over to the window, right in front of it. "_Look_ at her. Just look at her."

The other's optics stared inside, at the fragile, miniature human lying on the bed. Bruises. Soil clinging to her skin. Fabric hanging off her frame, one sleeve nearly falling off her shoulder. Long hair tangled, messy, knotted and so very not healthy-looking. And she was pale, like a china doll, as though if you touched her she'd cry out in pain.

"Fine. She can stay. But she's your responsibility, Ironhide. If you fail to care for her, I don't know what will become of her then."

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><p><strong>I hope you guys liked the first chapter! Reviews are like crack to me, they get me so high that I think writing more is a good idea. XD<strong>

**Thanks for reading! ^^**


	2. Chapter 2

**OH MY PRIMUS! Thanks for all the lovely reviews last chapter. I mean, 15 reviews for the first chapter...? THAT MAKES MY DAY! I've never had that happen before! It's the reason I've been so happy for the past three days.**

**Anyway, I hope you guys like this one! ^^**

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><p>"Where do you think she's from, anyway?" Optimus asked, optics flickering over to the window once more. Ratchet still hadn't come out of there to tell them what condition the girl was in.<p>

"I don't know." Ironhide shrugged. "It would be hard to tell, probably. She's likely been all over the place, and unless she tells us herself I don't think we'll ever know where she started out. But so far, she hasn't spoken a word. She wasn't even screaming when the 'Con held her over the cliff. She didn't say _anything_, didn't even beg him to let her go."

"Maybe she gave up on that long ago," Optimus suggested. "He may have had her for quite a while. When she realized her pleading wasn't going to make him put her down, she probably stopped."

"Maybe." Ironhide sighed, shaking his head. "She should have gotten help a long time ago. Aren't there places for sparklings like her to go? The ones whose parents have abandoned them?"

"She may not know they exist. In human years, she only looks about six or seven years of age."

"I suppose. Optimus, when I find out who left her like this, I swear to Primus I'm going to tear them limb from limb. She could have died tonight."

"Yes, she could have." Optimus patted his friend's shoulder. "So it's lucky you were there to save her, Ironhide. One more human given a better chance at life because of you."

"Yeah, I guess. I just can't imagine anyone not loving their sparkling."

"I know... it's a difficult thing to grasp. But Earth is different from us, and its inhabitants still have a lot to learn about these things."

Almost inaudibly, Ironhide muttered, "I think they don't know the _basics_ of caring for a sparkling."

The door to the medical bay opened, and Ratchet walked out. "Well," he announced, "at least she's not in an indefinite stasis. We should be thankful for that, at least."

"How is she?" Optimus spoke up, and a rumble was heard as he stepped closer to the doctor.

Ironhide turned away from them and stared in at the girl through the window, as he listened to them talking. She wasn't in an indefinite stasis, no... just sleeping, the equivalent of a temporary stasis. But she still didn't look like a healthy human. She was too pale, and too small for however old she was.

"She's lucky, is how she is," Ratchet replied. "I'm not sure how much longer she would have been alive if Ironhide hadn't found her. She's underweight, and she's got a severe infection. She must have acquired it from a cut that bacteria got into. Perhaps on the bottom of her foot - that's where there are the most lacerations. It makes sense... after all, she doesn't have shoes. You should see the bottoms of her feet, Optimus - I don't think there's a single micrometer that isn't covered in blood, dried or fresh."

"Did you find out how old she is?" Ironhide spoke up. "She's so little."

"Yes. She's six, but according to the scans I performed, she will be in her seventh year in approximately three weeks and two days."

"Is there anything else wrong with her?" Optimus asked.

Ratchet scoffed. "You name a condition that's associated with neglect, she's got it. Malnutrition, dehydration, fever, iron deficiency, mild hypothermia. It's a wonder she didn't collapse when she saw you, Ironhide."

The warrior nodded stiffly as he kept staring in at the girl. He wasn't paying too much attention; he was busy wondering about her. "What about her voice?" he added. "Did you figure out why she won't talk?"

Ratchet sighed. "It looks like some of her vocal cords don't work well. It's probably a little painful for her to speak, like Bumblebee. I believe that was how she was born though, her vocal cords weren't damaged. From what I can tell, she's always been hesitant to talk."

"Are you going to work on them? Like you are with Bumblebee?"

"I'm not sure if there's much I can do. If this is the way she was born, it's probably not reversible. I could try... but I'd like her to understand what I'm doing. We can talk it over with her tomorrow - is that alright with you, Ironhide?"

"Yeah. That's fine."

"Ironhide."

"What?"

"Come here a minute."

He scowled, but turned around and walked toward the others, halting his vision of the girl. "What is it?"

"I did a full examination on her-"

"As well you should have or I'd need to kick your aft."

It was Ratchet's turn to scowl, but he simply cleared his throat and continued as if nothing had happened. "And I... found something." He lifted up his hand, and dangling loosely from one finger was a string with a small purple charm hanging from it. "This was around her wrist."

Ironhide took it on his own finger and brought it to his optic level. He could just barely make out the scratch of writing on the back of the pendant, which read _Rayne_. He snorted. "Well, there's surprise - she spelled it wrong. What's it supposed to mean, anyway, even if it was spelled right?"

"No, Ironhide," Ratchet argued. "I believe that's her name. And even if it isn't, that's the only thing we have to go on."

"So that's what we're supposed to call her? Rayne?"

"If she responds to it, yes. If she doesn't, I suppose we'll just have to figure out her name for ourselves."

"Right. I thought as much. Rayne, then." He hung the bracelet on one of his cannons so he didn't lose it. "Am I allowed to go in and see her?"

Ratchet shrugged. "Well, she won't be communicating with you, but you're welcome to go in. Just try not to wake her, she needs to rest."

"Of course. When have I ever not been quiet?"

"Is that supposed to be a trick question, Ironhide?"

"I'll be quiet."

"Alright then. Would you like me to come in as well?"

"No, I'd like to go in alone, if you don't mind."

"Very well, I'll respect that."

"Jolt left, didn't he?"

"He wanted to enter stasis, so he's gone, yes."

"Good." Without another word, he nodded to his comrades and went inside the medical ward, closing the door.

He looked down at the girl, just as he had been. He just... wanted to look at her; to memorize every detail of her in case she tried to run off. As far as he knew, human sparklings at this age seemed to have a fascination with scaring the living hell out of their caregivers.

Ratchet was right. She was in bad shape. He hadn't seen it before, but she was definitely suffering more than he'd thought. If one looked very closely, they'd see a very slight bluish tinge to her skin, except for her face which was showered with red from the fever Ratchet had mentioned. Her lips were dry, cracked. And he'd seen before how little she was; horribly slender. She looked so weak and tired that he didn't think she'd wake up even if that damn Decepticon rose from the Pit and came marching into the room.

Ironhide let out a deep sigh, something he didn't even realize he'd been holding in. Then he took the thin ribbon from his cannon and carefully slid it back onto her wrist. "Rayne," he murmured. "Is that your name, little one?"

She stirred ever so lightly, but didn't wake. Even as her arm found its way across her stomach, she stayed asleep.

He shook his head. He honestly wouldn't believe this if it wasn't in front of his own eyes, if he wasn't living it. She'd shown up out of nowhere, in the hands of a fucking Decepticon. It didn't make sense... why would they want her? Maybe it was just that one 'Con. He was overthinking this. It didn't matter how she'd gotten into the Decepticons' possession; all that mattered now was that she was no longer in immediate danger.

"Rayne... where in the name of Primus did you come from?"


	3. Chapter 3

**AHHHHHHH I'M SO SORRY I'M A HORRIBLE PERSON PLEASE FORGIVE ME NO NO PUNISH MEEEEEEE~**

**OK, now that I'm over that. Sorry I left you guys for so long. I had it started and didn't know how to continue for a while.**

**BUT. This is like twice the length of chapters I usually write, so I hope the length makes up for the long wait!**

**Hope you like! :D**

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><p>Stasis wasn't easy for Ironhide that night. He went into it right next to the medical bay, just in case the girl - Rayne - woke up. He didn't even find a berth near there, just went into stasis against the wall. He wanted to be there if anything happened to her during the night. He didn't wish for her to wake up alone and scared in the dark. For one, he didn't want her to start screaming; she'd shatter everybody's stasis and then no one would want to deal with each other in the morning, and then nothing would get done. (And Mirage would just bitch at everyone in Italian... people didn't need that.) For another thing, he wanted her to feel safe with him. If she woke up and got scared, she should know that somebody was right there, so she didn't have to be afraid.<p>

He was in a light, somewhat uneasy stasis (compared to what Mirage said he was usually in - geez, that guy caused a lotta problems...) when something jarred him from it. He looked around, optics whirring, to see what it was. Maybe it had been a sound?

But then, something cold touched his leg. That had to be it.

He looked down and saw the girl, standing there, looking up at him. Her eyes were wide, and she was clutching her hands together, in the middle of her chest, and looking up at him.

He reached down and put a finger on top of her head. "There you are. What's the matter? Too dark?"

She shook her head, pushing his finger away, but holding onto it. She tried to climb up onto it, but couldn't get a grip.

Ironhide scoffed. "Silly little sparkling. You're not going to get up like that." He gently shook her off and opened his hand, gesturing towards his palm. "Alright now, climb on there."

She did so, pressing herself tight to one of his fingers. Then she looked back up at him.

He brought her up to his face and stroked the length of her little body with his thumb. "Alright. What's the matter? Can't you get back into stasis?"

She pursed her lips, then beckoned him closer with her finger.

He sighed, but leaned in toward her, getting his audio receptor as close to her as possible, as he'd seen humans do on television sometimes. "What?"

And then came her tiny, raspy little voice. "There's something in there. I woke up and it was staring at me and it wouldn't move and it scared me." It was rough and unpracticed, barely audible.

He could feel her shaking in his hand, and she was genuinely frightened. He carefully ran a finger down her body again, and shushed her. "Alright, alright, you're fine, aren't you? Now let's go see what's in there."

"_No_!" she hissed, her eyes getting even wider. (He wasn't sure how that was possible, but apparently it was.) "We can't go in there. If we go in there it'll _get_ us." She said it like it was the most serious thing in the world, with all the gravity a child could muster in her rough voice.

"Not if I'm with you, it won't." Truthfully he didn't really think there was anything _in_ there; it was dark, and some inanimate object in the shadows had probably unnerved her. But he wanted her to know she could trust him to defend her - even against something that wasn't real. "And if it does, you know what I'm going to do to it?"

She looked up at him, eyes big, as if asking what. (Apparently she didn't feel much like talking anymore.)

He cocked his head to one side. "I'm going to blast it to the Pit with my cannons." He closed his fingers around her carefully, so that she could see out but was fully protected. "You have nothing to worry about. If anything's in there and tries to hurt you, it's going to be torn apart bolt by bolt."

He could see her nod, and she still hadn't let go of his finger.

"Let's go, then."

She held on tightly to him as he carried her into the room again. "Are you sure you didn't just dream that you saw something?"

She nodded. "Mm-hmm."

Alright then, she was sure but that didn't mean she was _right_. He pushed the door open and walked inside. It was dark, but he _could_ see. "Very well, where was this thing you saw?"

She backed up against his fingers, then pointed in one direction. After that she proceeded to curl up inside and whimper, obviously not wanting to talk anymore.

He respirated once, then looked over in the direction she'd pointed in. All that was there was a metal shelf with metal doors. "It's in the cabinet?"

"Y-Yeah." Oh, Primus, she was _crying_ now. Frag.

"Okay, okay." He lowered his hand down to her berth and shook his hand lightly, trying to nudge her off. "Onto the bed with you. I'll get it."

It seemed like she was reluctant to do so, to leave him alone with her imagined monster, but she slowly crawled off his palm and onto the bed. Once there, she drew her knees up to her chest and hugged them there, staring up at him.

Ironhide nodded to her, then took a few steps toward the cabinet before glancing back at her. "In here?"

"Uh-huh." By now she had the blankets in her hands, pulling them up against herself.

"Right." He turned back and hooked one finger around the handle to the door on the left. He was just about to open it when the girl screamed. He let go and spun back to face her. "_What_? I thought you wanted me to kill whatever it is!"

"B-But if you open it, it'll come out and eat me!"

He rolled his optics around. The human imagination really was a confusing thing. "I doubt anything has a taste for _you_, fleshling. Now be quiet and _don't_ scream again, I'm going to open it up."

Before he had turned around, he caught the flash of her pulling the blankets up over her head and beginning to shake.

Might as well do it quick, anyway. He got the handle again, and in one move had pulled it open.

He couldn't even get a word in before she started screaming again.

He stood there for a second, glanced into the cabinet, wondered what was so scary about Ratchet's tools, then decided they were kind of scary, and looked back at her. "Hey." He walked over and sat down on the berth next to her. "Sparkling, there's nothing in there but medical equipment."

All at once, she stopped screaming and instead furrowed her eyebrows together. She hopped off the berth and took a few hesitant steps toward the cabinet. She pointed up at it and looked back at him. "What's that big drill for?"

"Surgery. Now, if you're done making a fool of yourself and trying to shock the rest of them out of stasis, you can lie back down." He put his hand down on the berth. "You shouldn't even be up right now, sparkling. You're not in good condition."

"The doctor said I'm sick?"

"Yes. Now quit being silly and get back over here. The sooner you recover, the better."

She walked slowly back over, never taking her eyes off the cabinet. As if she expected something to magically pop out of it and tear into her flesh. "What's the doctor's name?"

"Ratchet."

"Is he old?"

Ironhide snorted, barely able to hold back a laugh. "Yes, but so am I. We've been on the same team for quite a while."

She nodded, then ran back to him and grabbed onto his leg. "Is hiding." She looked up and blinked a few times. "If you stay here, it won't bother me. Is scared of you."

Was she still talking about her nonexistent creature? "Afraid of me? Why?"

"Because it knows you could kick its _butt_."

Well, that was a valid reason to be afraid of something - because you knew it was stronger than you. But this thing didn't _exist_... she just thought it did. He scooped her up in his hand and deposited her onto the bed. "Alright. I'll stay here until you go into stasis, and not a nanoclick more."

She laid down on the berth, blinking eyes tiredly. "Huh...?"

Ah yes, that was right... he'd need to teach her about the way they spoke. He stored that in his processor; he could start tomorrow, just to make sure she could understand what they were saying. "I said I'm going to sit here until you fall asleep, but not any longer."

"Oh. Okay." She stretched and shifted her body to wiggle under the covers and get warm. "Goodnight."

"Pleasant images to your mind, sparkling."

He chose to interpret the next few seconds as a confused silence. She just sat there and stared at him again.

Sigh. "Don't have any nightmares."

"Okay." She turned over, onto her right side, facing him. "You too."

He appreciated the sentiment, but he never had good sensations while he was in stasis. He barely had any, and when he did they were filled with negativity. "Thank you. Now go to sleep."

"I'm trying."

He sat there and looked down at her for a moment, then reached down with one finger and brushed some of her hair aside. "I want to ask you something, sparkling."

She yawned. "Okay. But, uhhh... for every question you ask _me_... I get to ask you one."

"I suppose that's fair. Sparkling, is your name... Rayne?"

She rubbed her eyes again. "How'd you know that?"

"Because. I just know."

"_Cool_."

"Is that what I should call you - Rayne?"

"Yeah."

"Your turn." He was actually kind of hoping to tire her out, talk to her until she went to sleep.

"Umm... what's _your_ name?"

"My designation is Ironhide. I am this team's weapons specialist."

"But you wouldn't _ever_ hurt me."

"Not intentionally. But that's not inviting you to come wandering onto the training field, because if the shot's already been fired and you get in the way, there's nothing I can do to stop it."

She nodded. "Ask me another one."

"... Where... did you come from?"

"Don't remember. It's been a long time."

"And you don't remember your parents?"

She shrugged. "They didn't want me anyway. My mom, she told me I wasn't supposed to happen - that I'm an accident. But it doesn't matter, because you saved me. That means I'm important even though I'm an accident." She swallowed hard after this, and brought a hand up to her throat.

"Don't talk anymore if it pains you. Ratchet's going to work on your voice tomorrow, if you want."

"Okay. My turn. Where are _you_ guys from?"

"Our planet is Cybertron, but we cannot go back right now."

"So you're _aliens_! Cool." She was probably about to leave it at that, but her mouth opened again. "Why can't you go back?"

"Because it was destroyed by a war, and our enemies may still be there. We're trying to make peace with them, is what Optimus insists, but in my opinion they will never agree to it."

She frowned, and opened her eyes to look up at him. "That's sad. It's not fair that you have a home to go back to, but you can't. They should stop being mean and share the planet. I mean... it's their home _and_ it's yours too. They need to be nice."

Ah. A little human child had just summed up everything that the Autobots were fighting for, without even knowing who they were and not knowing she'd even done it. "Yes, we think so too. That's why we're fighting... so we can all stop this war and go back." It was quiet for a moment, then he spoke up again. "Why did he have you?"

"That guy you saved me from?" She shrugged. "I don't know why he wanted me. He said he was taking me back to his master... because I had something." She stretched her arms. "But he didn't take it from me. He couldn't find it... it was a fun game, but it got old. He almost found it when you saved me."

Ironhide blinked his optics slowly a few times. She had something the Decepticons wanted? But what could she possibly have that was of any use to them? "What was it?"

"If I show you, you're not going to take it, are you?"

"Not at the moment, no, unless we decide it's important."

Rayne nodded, and she flipped the blankets off half of her body. Then she reached into a pocket in her shorts and pulled out a small medallion. Well - it was small to him, but it was probably a little heavy for her. It was colored aqua in the middle, and the edges were gold and spiked. It would look like a human interpretation of the sun... if not for that blue ellipse in the middle.

"How long have you had it?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Can't tell time."

He nodded. "You can put it away now."

She shoved it back into her pocket and covered herself very carefully with the blanket, tightening it around herself. Apparently, if the trinket turned out to be something important, she wanted to make sure it wasn't taken from her. "That was three questions," she yawned, her voice losing some volume.

"Let's just see if you can stay awake to ask me three more, sparkling."

"You keep callin' me that - _sparkling_. But you're saying it different."

"That's because I'm not using a human word. I know what you think I'm saying, but that's not it."

"Then what does 'sparkling' mean the way you're usin' it?"

"It means a child. Normally it's used for those from five stellar cycles to thirty stellar cycles, because before that they are a hatchling, and after that they become a youngling. I use it for you because you are the human equivalent of about... eleven stellar cycles, it looks like."

She nodded, although it was clear she probably didn't understand half of what he was saying. "What's a stellar cycle?"

"It's the term we use for a year."

She turned over, onto her side facing the wall. "That's cool."

He felt one side of his mouth twitching upward just a little. It had been so long since he'd last smiled genuinely, or smiled at all. But how could one _not_ smile when looking at a sparkling who was just letting stasis claim them? It was so... dare he even think it, _cute_, as the humans would say. He couldn't think of a better word for it anyway. "Did you want to ask me one more question, sparkling? Or are you too tired for that?"

He heard her yawn again, and he thought she'd fallen asleep now. But after a few more minutes, he heard her take a breath - not the shallow type as she would if she were sleeping. Deliberate and deep. "You're going to take care of me, right? Forever?"

His spark slowed down again, and it was painful to him that she would ask him such a thing. She had been emotionally scarred so badly that she had to _ask_, to make sure that he wouldn't just leave her like her biological parents. It shouldn't have happened, but the fact was that it did happen, and he had to come to terms with that. It had happened, and she was here with him now, and her life _would_ be better.

He reached down and ran his finger up and down her back, just over and over. He didn't even know if he was doing it to keep her calm or to keep himself calm; both were logical. "What kind of a question is that, sparkling?" he whispered, even though it probably still sounded loud to her. "Of course I will. You needn't ever worry about that. We'll all take care of you."

He could practically hear the smile in her next words. "So I'll have a new family. Cool."

He let the smile spread lightly over his face. "Get to sleep, Rayne."

Her arm shot out behind her and her fingers groped for his. "Don't leave, Hide..."

He lowered his finger, and rested it in her palm as all her tiny fingers wrapped around his. "I'm right here, Rayne. I won't leave until you're firmly in stasis. Now, go to sleep. It's well after midnight - sparklings shouldn't be active right now."

"Okay..."

He didn't hear anything more from her, and after several minutes he realized she must be asleep now. He could probably leave.

As he began to get up to do just that, her grasp tightened on his finger. "Don't go..." she whined, and it occurred to him that she was talking in her sleep.

He sighed, and sat back down again. He could go into stasis here, anyway; it didn't matter. And he couldn't wake her up - not now, when she'd just gotten back to sleep. He shut his optics, and felt himself slowing down. His processor was still whirring with some questions about her that hadn't yet been answered, but everything was coming to a barely active state as he slipped into stasis, not moving his finger from Rayne's grip.

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><p>::Scraper! Haven't you found it YET?::<p>

There was a buzz of clicking and whirring along the comm link, and then he got his answer. The other spoke in Cybertronian. _::No, my lord. But she has it. She was speaking of it to the weapons specialist.::_

He growled, leaning back on his makeshift throne. ::I see. I don't care what you do now, but report to me first thing at the beginning of the humans' next solar cycle.::

There was a hiss of agreement on the other end of the link. _::Yes, my lord. I shall report. Hail Megatron.::_

The comm disconnected, and the leader snarled. "Yes, yes, hail me." He reached up and poked a sharp claw at the exposed wires. "That pesky little sack of flesh..."

He gazed over the darkness of his limited kingdom, only to find that one of his subjects was before him. He groaned and faced the other way. "And what do _you_ want?"

"My master, I know it is not my place, as I am but your lowly servant..."

He snorted. As much as he detested this one, he had to admit, no one could kiss aft like he could. "Get to the point or I'll find one for you."

A nervous shift of his wings. It would be inappropriate to call it a flutter, because it was far too slow for that. "Do you really think you should be prodding at the injury like that, my lord? You'll undo all the work the repair bots-"

"Well, throw the repair bots to the Pit then! They're useless anyway!"

He took a step backward, away from his master. "I... what news have you of the girl, then?"

"She's escaped us. Steelbolt's link is gone, and I can't access him. He was the one transporting her. Probably got himself offlined by one of those pathetic Autobots." Another furious jab at the wound on his head. "But I've sent Scraper after the fleshling, and he's found her. Yes, it shouldn't be long now... I'll get what I'm after sooner."

"I... I don't comprehend, master." He took only one step forward. "Is it the artifact you desire, or simply the little flesh-sack?"

The leader smirked, and laced his claws together, leaning back. "Oh, you shall soon see, my friend. You shall soon see."

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><p><strong>YAY. I hope you liked it, and I decided on the theme song for this story. The song is "In My Daughter's Eyes" by Martina McBride. GO LISTEN TO IT. NOW. THE AUTOBOTS COMMAND YOU TO GO LISTEN TO IT OR OPTIMUS PRIME WILL STEAL YOUR FACE.<strong>

**...**

**Well. This is awkward. So, drop me a review if you liked, or constructive criticism, or praise... praise would be nice...**

**(Edit: Whoopsie! Used "joor" when I meant "stellar cycle". Realized that earlier, was too lazy to change it... now I'm nerving about my surgery so I had to find a distraction... so now it's been fixed. LOL. Sorry for the mix-up!)**

**Thanks for reading! ^^**


	4. Chapter 4

**LOL, so. It's been a while since I've written any of this story, so sorry about that. And it's a little shorter than usual, but hopefully it's funny and cute enough to make up for it.**

**... Optimus and Rayne's relationship is the most awkwardly adorable thing in the history of the universe. Ever.**

**IMPORTANT: If you like Ironhide - and romance! - check out my other 'Hide story on my profile. It's call A Shoulder to Lean On.**

**Hope you guys like tis chappie! :D**

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><p>It was slow coming out of recharge for Ironhide in the morning. He had the impression that Rayne had been shaking him for at least five clicks, since she looked rather annoyed at his not awakening. She wasn't calling his name, or speaking at all, but just sitting there on the bed, propping herself up on her knees, jostling the armor of his waist. With every shove, she gave a little grunt, and her expression did not convey happiness.<p>

He shook his head, reaching over and picking her up by the collar of her shirt with his first two fingers. "Sparkling. I'm awake. You don't have to do that."

She blinked her big eyes at him a minute, then swung her leg at him. "Push!"

"No, that would be a kick." He frowned, setting her back down on the berth. She was well on her way to becoming a warrior, evidently. He glanced over at the human clock, only to see that he had overcharged and it was now eleven in the morning. Ah, well... afternoon training instead of morning it was, then. He stretched a little and then allowed Rayne to climb back up on his hand. "What do you say we go meet some of the others? Most of them should be out of stasis by now."

She jumped up to her feet and stuck her tongue out at him, grinning. "Go!"

He rolled his optics and shook his helm as he carried her out of the bay. "Yes, let's go."

She scrambled up on the outside of his servo and slowly crawled up to his shoulder. The crippling fear from the previous night was nonexistent now, as she moved around and held onto him with no real intent of falling. "Yay!"

Ironhide snorted and rolled his optics. "Well, Rayne, I can see you're full of energy when you're not scared out of your wits."

The child's reply was to grip his rotator cup and giggle incessantly, as if he'd just said something very funny. She didn't speak again though.

"Now let's see, who should we introduce you to... ah." He glanced over at her. "How would you like to meet our leader?"

She grinned up at him, straightened, and pointed in no particular direction. "Take me to ya leader, fleshy!"

He raised an eye ridge. "Where the Pit... the fragger must have taught you that. Don't worry," he added, patting her head with one finger, "we'll fix that."

All this time he'd been walking with her, and at last they'd reached Optimus, who was looking out of a window. Probably admiring the scenery; anytime he could look at Earth, he would. "Hey!" Ironhide nudged the Prime. "Care to meet our little sparkling properly?"

Optimus turned, and had a faraway look in his optics, but once they fell on the girl his expression softened. "So she woke. Is she doing well?"

"Ah, I think so." Ironhide picked her up off his shoulder and she kicked a little, but then just fell down in the palm of his servo. "She did wake up last night, but it didn't take long to get her back to sleep. I don't know if she should be sleeping in the med bay anymore, though."

"Why not?"

"Oh, she got scared." He shrugged. "Thought she saw something in one of the cabinets. I looked, and I showed her, and there wasn't anything in it except Ratchet's torture - err, medical equipment."

"I see." He looked down at Rayne, who was busy making snow angels in the middle of the weapons specialist's servo. "Is her name what was inscribed on the charm Ratchet found? Rayne?"

"Yes!" Instantly she shot up, looking around for where her name had come from. "What?"

Ironhide snorted. "Yes, that's her name." He reached down with his other servo and gently pushed a finger against her cheek. "Nobody called you. But while we're at it..." He turned her face toward the taller 'Bot. "This is the Autobots' leader, Optimus."

After a minute of wide eyes meeting wide optics, Rayne opened her mouth. "Op... Opi... time... bus."

Ironhide couldn't help it, he nearly burst out laughing right there. Judging by the look Optimus gave him, though, he thought better of it and choked out a snicker. "Y-You can't exactly blame her, Optimus, she's only a sparkling."

Optimus's fans whirred, but he didn't say anything to the older mech. Instead he looked pointedly down at Rayne, and shook his helm before speaking. "Just... call me Prime."

She blinked, then broke out in a wide smile. "Uncle Prime."

"I'm not-" He vented and decided to give it up. "Fine. Yes, that's me."

Ironhide gave the other mech a nudge. "I'm sure you'll get used to it, Optimus. Maybe one day she'll learn how to say it right. The humans grow pretty fast, don't they?"

He noticed that Optimus had gone back to staring at Rayne, and after a nanoclick he realized what must be going through his commander's processor. "Optimus, would you... would you like to hold her?"

His optics flickered to meet Ironhide's. "I... well... if that's alright with you."

"Rayne?" He brought the girl up to face level with them. "It's okay if, err, Uncle Prime holds you for a minute?"

Nod.

"Good enough for me." He carefully transferred the little femme into Optimus's servo, but he shouldn't have been worried. She picked up on how to move between them quickly, keeping her feet on his palm until she had a good grip on Optimus's finger, then swinging over onto his.

Optimus was clearly more concerned about handling her than Ironhide was. He moved very slow as he raised his hand so the child could meet his eyes. "She's small."

"Isn't she? And I think they can get even smaller than her. When they're just formed."

"Humans aren't much different from us, the way they grow." He cupped his servo, and was both pleasantly surprised when Rayne lie down as he did so. "She must still be tired."

Ironhide chuckled. "I don't think she would have gotten up if she didn't want to."

He looked down at her, and made a sound akin to a nervous swallow. "Rayne?"

She looked up. "Mm?"

"I just... want you to know that we will always protect you. We will not turn our backs on you." He brought her closer, close enough that she could have touched his faceplates if she wanted to. "You... You were left alone to fend for yourself... you were forgotten. But don't worry." He pulled her even closer, and allowed her to throw her arms against his face in an awkward but emotional hug. "None of us will let that happen again."

"I know," she whispered, and her voice was scratchy again. Ironhide couldn't tell which it was; if all the talking was wearing her out, or if she was crying. "'Hide told me las' night. I know you take care of me forever 'n' ever."

Before Optimus had a chance to start with any inner monologue about the sanctity of life and sparklings, which never failed to wear out his processor, Ironhide gently snatched Rayne away and put her on the ground. "Come this way, Rayne. You'll like Bumblebee."

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><p><strong>Awwwwwwww! *hugs Rayne* YOU SO CUTE.<strong>

**Ironhide: *growl***

**Me: Oh, yeah, right, she's YOURS. *holds Rayne out* Meanie...**

**Mirage: He get-a jealous easy.**

**Me: Yeah, I didn't notice that at all. Just remember, Hidey, if it weren't for ME you wouldn't even have Rayne...**

**Thanks for reading, guys! ^^**


	5. Chapter 5

**AHAHAHA~ I'm awful. XD**

**I know I've been gone for a bit, but hopefully I don't think it was as long as it was last time. Also, I'm of the opinion that the cuteness and the humor at the end will make up for my awfulness.**

**If you have any ideas to contribute, also, that would be great! :D**

**Hope you all enjoy! :)**

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><p>If Ironhide had his way, Rayne wouldn't have so much as touched Bumblebee's <em>door handle.<em> But Bumblebee offered, _"Ya wanna take a spin?"_ and when he held her back, the little girl gave him a withering pout that would probably make _Ratchet_ uncomfortable. Besides, if she was going to live with them from now on, she should learn early not to be afraid of riding in their alt modes. Bumblebee was the closest to her age; he would acclimate her to the rides while managing not to scare her stiff.

She wouldn't be going _anywhere_ near Sideswipe, though, not even if she gave him that look again.

The scout knew Ironhide was watching, and took no chances regarding Rayne's safety, as he may have done with Sam or Mikaela riding in his interior. He made the child sit in the backseat, after Ironhide reminded him - in the most threatening way possible - that the warning said children under twelve years could be killed by the air bags.

Not that he thought Bumblebee would crash, of course, but... no risks. Bee strapped her in the middle of the back with both sets of seatbelts, though she protested at first. (By waving her arms and kicking the seat in front of her, since clearly she'd had enough of this talking nonsense for now.)

He then proceeded to drive around with her, doing sharp turns and donuts. He got carried away rather quickly, and Ironhide had to yell at him to "Slow the frag down, Bumblebee! And if I have to tell you one more time, _I'll send you to Ratchet and he'll reformat your aft with a lugnut wrench!_"

After that, the scout slowed down and eventually skidded to a stop. He was beeping and chirping sadly, in an attempt to apologize, but Ironhide wasn't going to have any of that "cute" scrap. Why should he go easy on Bumblebee just because he was still having voice problems? The younger one _knew_ he wasn't supposed to be doing stuff like that with Rayne inside his alt mode, and he chose to disobey those rules.

When he stopped, Rayne clawed her way through the seatbelts and crawled out, shutting the door. She threw her arms out over Bumblebee's hood, trying to effectively jump up on top, though she couldn't quite make it. She even began plastering a slew of kisses against his hood, rubbing over his armor and probably trying to make him feel better.

Then she snapped her head back to look at Ironhide, and did she ever _look._ It was even worse than the pout she'd given him - this was a full-on glare that told him she was angry as the Pit at him. She hugged the scout even tighter and scrunched up her eyes, as if willing tears to come. "No yell a' Bumble!"

He was actually surprised by the vicious tone in her voice. She seemed to talk fine even when it hurt to do so, but it was usually quiet; never since she'd begun to speak to him had she risen her voice above a normal, conversational volume unless she was laughing about something. She was already loyal to Bumblebee, it seemed, and he guessed he should take it as a sign that she was fiercely protective of her friends.

Which looked to be a good thing on the surface, but then how was he supposed to explain to her that he'd _deserved_ it? Rules were rules, and she had to learn that if you broke them, you had to own up to the consequences.

When he didn't say anything, just stood there staring at her - with the others staring at _him -_ she let go of Bumblebee. She put a hand on her hip and proceeded to point at the scout as he transformed. "Say you sorry."

... Slag it all. Where was Prowl when you needed him?

Ironhide vented, but another glance at Rayne's position, staunch and unmoving, warranted a groan. He could see she wasn't going to move from that spot until he apologized, so he took a few steps toward them. Begrudgingly, he laid a servo on Bumblebee's shoulder, and decided not to make optic contact. "I am... sorry, Bumblebee."

Bumblebee chirped, and looked down at the floor. _"It was me, okay? It was all me!"_

Rayne ran over and clung to the scout's pede, rubbing her cheek affectionately against his armor and grinning. "Bummmmmble!" She then threw her head back and tossed her arms into the air, in his direction, then began to make urgent noises without even opening her mouth.

Ironhide was about to let the scout know that it meant she wanted to be lifted, but Bumblebee surprised him by almost immediately bending down and scooping her up in his servo. Rayne got onto her stomach and giggled, wrapping herself around one of his digits. She then proceeded to close her eyes and kick her legs contentedly, while Bumblebee stroked her back with a finger on his other servo.

"Well, I'll be fragged," Ironhide muttered, crossing his arms over his chestplates. "You actually understood her. You knew what she wanted and she didn't even have to say _anything._"

"Honestly, _I'm_ not surprised," Mirage chuckled, and when Ironhide looked over he saw that the spy had a servo resting on his hip, watching the scene in amusement. "Bumblebee hasn't been talking for how many stellar cycles? He's had to communicate with body language, so I figure that it's only natural he'd pick up on hers too. _Incredibile, non è vero?_"

Ironhide scoffed. "I suppose it is, Mirage. Say, shouldn't you be off terrorizing some humans with your invisible antics?"

Mirage rolled his optics. "_Oh, per favore,_ Ironhide. Even if _you_ were invisible, I'd be able to tell how jealous you are."

"I am _not_ jealous. I just think that too much time with Bumblebee is a bad influence."

Mirage snorted. "You don't believe that. You're jealous. Besides, I can't go anywhere. I'm on probation."

"For _what?_"

He raised his servos palm-out, shrugging. "It was Robert's idea, but he kept it going for longer than he should have. Galloway figured out that it was us doing the... _'ristrutturazione'_ of his office. So now he's watching me. I'm not allowed to use my invisibility on base unless I wanted to be barred from the missions."

"He can't do that. Honestly, who do these humans think they are?" Ironhide aimed a glance at the direction of where Galloway's office was, feeling a sudden urge to make sure his cannons were still working by using that man as a target. "He can't keep us from doing anything, and neither can the others. If they think they can restrain our free will - as the humans say, he's got another thing coming."

Mirage nodded eagerly. "_Attaccare a l'uomo, fratello!_"

Ironhide raised an eye ridge. "Mirage... I think you're beginning to get a little _too_ engrossed in the human culture."

The spy laughed. "Ah, well, I've just always wanted to say that ever since I saw it on a television show. These humans, they will be entertained by anything."

"Tell me about it."

"_Oh my Primus!_" The doors to Med Bay opened and Ratchet came running out. "I lost her! Ironhide, I can't find Rayne! I... I should have been in Med Bay before now, but Jolt and I had a late night going over those Primus-be-slagged files. Has anyone seen her?"

At the prompt of her name, the child pushed herself up from Bumblebee's palm and smiled, blinking. "Are you the doctor?"

Ironhide offlined and onlined his optics quickly, then carefully snatched Rayne up. "Er... Ratchet, I can explain. I slept beside her last night, and when I got up this morning, it was because she was _trying_ to wake me up. She seemed fine enough to-"

"I don't care how fine she _seems,_ Ironhide!" Ratchet reached over and plucked the sparkling from Ironhide's servo. "Did I not tell you last night how sick she was? She doesn't look like it, I know, because she's a _sparkling!_ Of course she doesn't want to let anyone know how bad she's feeling, she knows we'd make her get in bed! Which is precisely where she should _be_ right now!"

"Ratchet, calm down. Get any madder and you're going to crash." Ironhide took Rayne back, holding her closer so there was no chance of the medic - or anyone else - getting her again. "The point is that she's not hurt. She's not offline. She's fine, and that's what matters, right? I did a pretty good job taking care of her, and look - nothing happened. She met Optimus, she went for a ride in Bumblebee's alt mode-"

"_She WHAT?!_" Ratchet's optics widened. "Her body can't take that kind of thing, Ironhide! She's not ready to even be _walking!_ I can't believe you were so irresponsible! I - _you - _this is the most - you - this - I-!" Finally, a bit of smoke sparked up from Ratchet's helm, and he fell over.

Rayne crawled to the edge of Ironhide's hand and peered down at the out-of-commission medic, before looking back up at her friend. "What happened?"

Ironhide snickered, putting her back up on his shoulder, where she'd seemed most comfortable earlier. "I made Ratchet crash."

"Oh." She loosely held her tongue between her teeth, with just a bit poking out, and flung her arms up. "Do it again!"

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><p><strong>XD I HAD TO, I HAD TO!<strong>

**Italian translations, because I luvvles Mirage and can't seem to keep him out of any of my stories no matter how hard I may try.**

**Incredibile, non è vero? = Amazing, isn't it?**

**Oh, per favore = Oh, please**

**ristrutturazione = redecorating (*snicker* Rob and Mirage teaming up to mess with Galloway's office! I now support this situation as something that happens in the movies. XD)**

**Attaccare a l'uomo, fratello! = Stick it to the man, brother! (dude... just the image of Mirage saying this... just... just imagine it... 8D)**

**Hope you liked! Thankies for reading! ^^**


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